The BEST Way TO Perform a Parasitic Draw Test

Today we are going to be learning how to perform a Parasitic Current Draw test or PID. Knowing the right way to do this test may not be vital, but it will save you a lot of headaches. Doing this test wrong can waste time, and that will waste money. You also don’t NEED a ton of high dollar special equipment to do this. While that equipment is nice to have, most of use don’t have it. So if you have a battery draw, here is the best way to help find it.

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Hi Mate, love the vids, very informative and easy to understand. i have an Audi Q7 2008 3.0 TDI that is having a battery problem! replaced the genuine battery with an aftermarket battery of the same size and CCA etc. Anyway the battery died again after about 2 months of use. so i got out the volt meter and started to use your tests, and i found nothing abnormal except comminication fuse was .2millivolts and radio/DVD took ages to sleep, everything else seems to be going into sleep mode. the battery volts with engine running was at 13.76v which i thought was a bit low with nothing on, ie no radio no doors open etc.
So i read that changing a battery also required it to be recoded to the car? and that only genuine batteries should be used? not sure what to do as the dealership just keeps saying they cant find anything either? cheers Daz

A little late but if your car requires an AGM battery (I believe for start/stop functions etc..) then you will need the battery coding to the car. Judging by the voltage test with the engine running does sound like a potentially faulty alternator.